… yesterday afternoon I took out the tiny scraps left over from my pyjamas turned scout, and laid out the sleeves of the Dixie DIY hot cocoa sweater on them… I could get a pair of short sleeves from what I had left…

… they were cut out, then I cut a green front and a turquoise back from a combination of the hot cocoa and the scout, using the raglan sleeves and neckline from the former and the length and hemline from the latter. I sewed them up, added a green neck band, top stitched the neck down and sewed the hem with my fabulous double needle…

… if (when?) I make another one of these I will make the sleeves wider, this pair are a bit tight on my upper arms, but I still love it…

… so, thank you Jo for the fabric, and see, Margot, there was enough fabric to make a t-shirt!

… for years, whenever I get invited to a wedding I wear the same dress, I am not a dress person, but I quite like this straight rust orange linen dress, I have a cardigan that matches as I am always cold, I used to have the perfect pair of trainers to go with it, but the dog chewed those when he was smaller, now I have a pair of simple flats…

… I tried it on, hung it in the bathroom hoping wrinkles would fall out and I was set for the Saturday when a good friend was getting married…

… sometime midweek, ideas started spinning in my mind… a morning ceremony, followed by a lunch, “maybe the dress was too formal?”, ceremony on the other side of town, too far to walk, “would I be able to cycle in the dress?”… at some point I decided I could maybe make a new dress for the day?

… Thursday night, after yoga practice, ideas still spinning through my mind, I procrastinate, I know exactly which fabric I want to use, another piece of African wax, I think about shape and decide on A-line with narrow shoulders, remembering a dress a friend had many, many years ago…

… 10:30pm, I kick myself into action, I get out the Dixie DIY hot cocoa sweater pattern, that I already made up “conventionally“. I use front and back pieces, extend the top corners instinctively and extrapolate the length to something I think will hit just above the knee. I cut out the 2 pieces and cut out a second short version of each piece that hits just below the arm hole to use as facing.

… neck and arm seams are sewn, shoulder “corners” are pushed through, side seams are sewn (using French seams), shoulders are temporarily safety pinned shut as I try on the dress – either it is exactly what I wanted, or a sack, I hope for the former! I fall into bed at 1am…

… next day, after yoga, I drop by a local tailor’s and ask nicely if she would mind pinning my hem, she admires the dress, boosts my confidence (someone doesn’t think it looks like a sack!), and home I come with hem pinned. An afternoon of errands, another yoga class in the evening, 10:30pm back in front of the sewing machine. Shoulders are sewn, hem is turned up, pressed and sewn, I fall into bed.

… Saturday morning, after a run in the forest, home, a quick shower, I pull on the dress and rush out to the wedding, it passes the cycle test with flying colours. After the gorgeous ceremony, I congratulate the bride, she recognises the fabric (I made her a reversible bag in the same fabric over a year ago, the bag I have with me is lined in more of the same), admires the dress, and during the course of the day makes sure all her family and friends know I am the person who has been teaching her to sew and I made my own dress…

… and just for Jo…… bonus funny story… after the wedding I jumped in the car and headed down to the Belgian Ardennes, our “mountains” for the rest of the weekend. I remembered dog, dog bed, clothes, food, yoga mat, etc, etc… but half way there I realised I had forgotten to pick up any shoes, so I had to hike all weekend in my best smart shoes!

… a while back, fabric shopping, rummaging around the bargain section, and I stumbled upon the end of a bolt of lacy knitted blue woollen fabric. I looked at it, ran my fingers over it, took it off the shelf, put it back on the shelf, carried on looking, went back for a second look, moved on quickly, but by the third time I found myself holding the bolt I just tucked it under my arm and carried it to the cashier. There was only 1.5m, I was on a renfrew run, I thought I’d just make another cowl necked version…

… I had visitors at the beginning of April, so sewing supplies were put away, then I had a lot of work, I didn’t get much sewing done, just my cargo pants that took quite a while. I completely forgot about the blue knit fabric.

… a moment of procrastination inspiration gathering, pootling from one blog to another and I stumbled across the Dixie DIY hot cocoa sweater. Nice, I pinned it for later reference.

… looking for some fabric for different project, I saw the blue wool. Immediately I knew it would make a perfect hot cocoa. The fabric was washed, dried, laid out, cut and sewn up in an evening and was worn yesterday. The only change I made to the pattern was to add a couple of centimetres to the front and back, I don’t like short tops, but I have a short torso, now it fits me exactly as I like.